7 Pillars to Amazon Bestseller Status, with Meg Calvin
Links in this Episode:
How to Find Your Next Book Idea
7 Pillars of Amazon Bestseller Status, with Meg Calvin: Full Transcript
Intro:
Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome to The Resilient Writers Radio Show. I'm your host, Rhonda Douglas. And this is the podcast for writers who want to create and sustain a writing life they love.
Because let's face it, the writing life has its ups and downs, and we want to not just write, but also to be able to enjoy the process so that we'll spend more time with our butt-in-chair getting those words on the page.
This podcast is for writers who love books and everything that goes into the making of them. For writers who want to learn and grow in their craft and improve their writing skills. Writers who want to finish their books and get them out into the world so their ideal readers can enjoy them. Writers who want to spend more time in that flow state. Writers who want to connect with other writers to celebrate and be in community. In this crazy roller coaster ride, we call the writing life.
We are resilient writers. We're writing for the rest of our lives and we're having a good time doing it. So welcome, Writer. I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump right into today's show.
Rhonda:
Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome back to another episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. So I'm really excited today. I've got Meg Calvin with me today, and she is an Amazon bestselling author. She's a wife, a mom, master air guitar player, speaker and coach. And she helps spiritually attune go-getters, write, market, and sell their Amazon bestselling books on Kindle, paperback, and Audible.
And she's best known for her intuitive gifts, unconventional practices that help writers become creatively unblocked and her award-worthy performance as a tree in a Midsummer Night's Dream as a third grader. Welcome, Meg.
Meg:
Thank you, Rhonda. I'm so excited to join you in serving our fellow wordsmiths, our fellow writers. Yes.
Rhonda:
Thank you so much for being here. I'm really excited to speak with you. So, Meg, I'd love to just start with a little bit of your own writing journey. Like, when did you start writing and how did you get into it? And just kind of walk us through your own writing journey.
Meg:
Yes. Like many listeners as a kid, I loved to write plays and direct them. and as a seven year old, we lived in a military base in Bomberg, Germany. The father that raised me, my stepdad, was in the army. And so we lived in really crappy military apartments, but the light of that was that there were so many kids around that I could put in place and direct and write. So yeah, that's where it started.
That led to writing songs and then, my grandparents were missionaries. And when I was 13, loving the applause, I started preaching. So I would write sermons as a 13 year old and my grandparents would take me to other churches and conferences and mission trips and I would preach. And so that led to a career of full-time ministry. So I was on a church staff from 17 to 32. And studied pastoral care, studied curriculum writing, and did journalism in high school. Just all have always been attracted to areas where I could either serve others with speaking or writing.
Rhonda:
Wow. Okay. So and so from like, seven years old till now, that's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. You were a creative kid and you stayed there as an adult. So I'd love to talk to you about, so in your bio and also I was on your website looking at things.
Meg:
It's getting a facelift right now, my website.
Rhonda:
Oh no, I loved it. I thought it was great. So, but you talk about helping writers do the deep spiritual work to write, market and sell their bestselling books on Kindle, paperback and Audible. And I just like to dig into that for a little bit. Like the, what is it about that work that you think is, is like, talk to me about the deep spiritual work.
Meg:
Definitely. This is my favorite part of the game. And sorry, if the word game offends. Totally. Yeah. So I've had the honor of serving authors all over the theological spectrum, even those that would classify as agnostic or even, or even atheist.
I don't know why I said even, that's really funny, even atheist, but, and so I've worked with a boudoir photographer who dabbled in Buddhism. I've worked with a fire and brimstone right wing conservative Baptist pastor who had a heart of gold. And so what I've noticed in working with people from, with all sorts of different theological beliefs is that there is this agreement or consensus in them that there's something energetic about our books and our readers feel that when it's when it's a completed work.
I know I've read books before and I have felt this author was really confused. There was a confusing energy so I could feel that even though she was an amazing writer. There she was writing the book to find an answer and she didn't find it. And so energetically, I felt that in the book. And so when we show up from that, knowing as authors, that there's something energetic about this book, it's gonna have a life of its own, we listen to the book deeper.
And what I mean by that is I have the belief that regardless of one's doctrinal or dogmatic beliefs, I hold the belief that the book idea that's been whispering to us, it shows us, for a reason. It shows us for our unique style of writing, our scars, our personality, our brand billing tactics, it wanted to come out of us.
So because of that, it is an entity in itself and it would serve us as authors to listen to it and not show up to the keys every day or if you freehand onto the paper every day with the thought. or the expectation that it's all on you as the author, when really, it's not all on you, the book's talking to. So there are these, there's the, without even getting to, without even getting into using jargon like the Holy Spirit or God, there is this energetic concept about our book ideas.
And then if an author I'm partnering with does want to talk about God or the Holy Spirit, so the belief, I'll pause, because I can be like an erupting encyclopedia, I'll pause.
Rhonda:
No, I think that's really interesting. And of course, a lot of writers, and I certainly was one of them, we think about sort of this idea of the muse, right? That there is something beyond us that is, and sometimes we refer to the writing, especially in that like crazy wild first draft stage of like, taking dictation, you know, like we have this idea that the book is out there somewhere and we're the vessel through which the book is channeled or produced in the world. So I find that really interesting.
So how is it that you, you know, if someone is trying to stay true to, you know, being open to the book that wants to come out. as opposed to kind of forcing something that isn't authentic. What's the approach you would suggest for that? Not wanting to force it, but listening to it to assure they're aligned with the authenticity of it. Is there a particular approach you take when you're coaching writers to like in the drafting process or?
Meg:
Yes, what's coming to me is there are five. Actually, I could give this to your listeners, if you feel it would serve. I have a video that has five questions to ask yourself to know what book wants to come out first. And so, because as I'm sure you've experienced with those you serve, sometimes, because they're so intelligent, they have so, too many book ideas. And they don't- Oh, so many book ideas, yes. So many book ideas.
And then they, there's also- this idea that there's a book they should write and a book they want to write. And maybe that's still at the subconscious level. Yeah. And so in, in these five questions on this video, this video training and a printable action sheet, which I love, um, I'd actually love to give that to your listeners again, if it's nerves, because, um, the link of my usual podcast freebie is not, it's not working right now, cause we're giving the website a facelift, so I will, I will send that to you, but yeah.
So there. In this video, I guide authors, I guide writers to these questions. And that gets them into the somatics of the situation, listening to their body. We're really good at using the front part of our brain where we make words, especially as writers, we could just live there. But there's other parts of us, of our being that gives us direction. And it really serves us to listen to those parts of ourselves as well.
And so one of the five questions in knowing which book wants to come out of me first gets us into our bodies. And I'm pausing. I'm wondering if anything else wants to be said about that.
Rhonda:
I was saying to someone yesterday, I feel like I've spent most of my life. Like I only realize I have a body when it hurts. Otherwise I just think like it just carries my head around. That's what it does.
Meg:
So I think that you're sort of, you know, that's slowing down and going a little deeper. You kind of, you know, understand where the calling is where the right space is for you. The book that is meant for you to write. Yeah. Yes.
One of the steps in that video. It talks about this, you might've heard of it, this amazing study that was done on, I think over 900 volunteers about it's -- you could Google emotional body graphing. And it showed that all of us, regardless of sex and gender and orientation and race and age, just humans in general, we have the identical physical sensations that align with simple or complex emotions.
And so one of the best things to do when we are writing. is to get aligned with the emotion of this chapter or this section. And then when you are writing, when, when the inner critic or fear starts to pipe up in the, from the front part of our brain, physically focus all of your energy and attention to the physical sensation of that emotion.
So for example, sadness, we will feel tingles around our eyes, even before we cry. Everyone feels that in a heaviness in the heart, but anger shows up in the tightness of our jaw, our neck and our head. And so writing from that body part and listening to that body part is huge for aligning authentically and you get in flow easier too.
Rhonda:
Ooh, love that. Okay, great. Are you wearing book earrings? I'm looking at you here. I know people can't see you, but I think she's wearing book earrings. I love it.
Meg:
Yes, she's on Instagram. She makes them.
Rhonda:
Oh, great. Okay. All right. I'm going to need a link for that too, because, okay. Yes. Must have. Must have book earrings.
So Meg, talk to me about, you're an Amazon bestselling author and you help writers become Amazon bestselling authors. And I'm assuming there's a bit of an art and a bit of a science to that. So how, how does that work? Cause I think everyone would love, you know, they got their book out into the world and they were able to say, I'm an Amazon bestselling author. I mean, it's a kind of a mark of a certain accomplishment.
Meg:
So yeah. So in 2017, my first book got, I'm starting my third, my first book got picked up by traditional publishing company. And then in 2019, my second book was published by another company. And at that same time, my best friend from childhood, who was an amazing business coach, reached out to me wanting to write a book and shared that I will make you an expert. It's organic social media marketing. If you, if you help me out with my first book. So that launched my business.
And I was working with the last company that did my second book at the time. So I learned from them. And then they sold that company to someone else in the summer of 2022, and that pushed me out of the nest. So before then my business was simply, I will help you write a nonfiction book and build your brand and then help you with queries and submitting it to publishing companies. That was the first two years of my business.
And then in 2022, when I was pushed out of the nest, I realized – not from a pretentious space at all – I realized if I brought on a team of people, I could give authors everything they want and they would keep all the rights and everything would be a true partnership. Cause by this time I had worked with two traditional publishing companies and knew, and I also had moments of, oh, but that wasn't, that font doesn't really match the content, you know, that's not, it didn't feel like a partnership.
So, I brought on a team and so I'm a literary service provider that helps with all the formatting and does all the publishing needed for KDP, an artist who works side by side, deeply in a partnership with the author. And then I come in with my favorite part, which is the client care part, helping the reader just shine their light, sorry, the writer shine their light brighter. And so the writing and the marketing, I'm the developmental structural part, then my partner is the copy and line editing and all the publishing needs.
And so the long answer, long landing, the plane, then there are seven pillars that I use to get best seller status on Amazon and I have them here.
Rhonda:
I would love to hear that about that.
Meg:
Yeah. I'm sure they've worked every time. And so, and this is what I use with my second book. And that came out in December of 2019 and then 2020 I launched my coaching business… it was on the side and I was a professional marketer at the time I'd stepped away from ministry. None of this matters.
But so I started on the side and August of 20, I'm sorry, January, 2020 went full time August of 21. Okay. So the seven pillars of creating an Amazon bestseller book, I won't read all this, but obviously birth a book that is spiritually aligned with your true frequency and the author is the brand.
And so: personal brand. So I will talk often about one's frequency. And what I mean by that is values, essence, desires, personality, writing style. The reader wants all of that. They want a human connection with the author, as you know.
After that, we're going to then co-create an engrossingly beautiful book cover.
Rhonda:
Oh, okay. So to get people to click on it when they're searching on Amazon.
Meg:
Yes. And I always talk about the coffee table test. And what I mean by that is the book cover is such a unique piece of art, but even when readers are done with it, they don't shove it on their shelf. And between other books, they leave it out on their coffee table to enjoy the experience of the art alone.
Okay. Create an irresistible offer for your book so that our marketing is a hundred percent on point for your ideal reader. So we get super clear on that.
Then, we learn how organic social media marketing as an author can be fun and not overwhelming while still making time for your day job and family. So the authors I serve, regardless of what social media trends will be going on in five years, what they've learned from me, it has an eternal shelf life. These principles of marketing.
The next step or pillar, is to build a promo. rave or street team. This would be like basically a group of folks who help you promote your book. And they agree to share it, buy it, and then two days later offer a verified review on Amazon. And then those minimum verified reviews make your book pop up on the bottom of the Amazon screen while people are shopping for similar books.
Rhonda:
Ooh, love. Okay.
Meg:
Yes. And so these are people on your promo team. There'll be a mix of people that say your best friend from childhood, your family, people that love you for you. Then they will all say, yeah, totally that you can do wrong in their eyes. And then there'll be people that are niche mates of yours that are serving similar audiences, or they might, they don't even have to have social media.
They don't have to be a marketer, obviously. but they love your cause. So they might've been someone you met at a conference once and the coffee, you know, and you're like, oh, this person cares about the cause.
And then the big one: three months before the book drops, we are using organic social media marketing to add, or sometimes build, or if the author is new that I'm working with, or add to their email list.
And so the last step after those things is to let my team do backend research on Amazon's algorithm gods to set your work up for bestseller success. So this is proper keyword research and getting it right. Categories, all of that. Yes.
Rhonda:
I love it. Okay. Great. Wow. That's great. I think I haven't really thought about how all of that happens. I mean, I think I thought it was just like luck. You know, you put your book up and you hope it becomes an Amazon bestseller. But I love that you have a whole strategy with seven different pillars.
So, Meg, you and I said we wanted to talk about trends that are happening right now that we think writers can just ignore. Yes. And I think we said you were thinking about three trends that you were thinking about. That where you think that, look, there might be a lot of chat around this. This might be hot, might be a big trend right now, but it's not something that you as an author need to worry about. Can we talk about those?
Meg:
Yes. So one of the trends that I am not a fan of, and we need to ignore as writers, and I'm curious if you... have noticed this too. This is that readers' brains are so busy on their screens all day that they'll only enjoy my book if I write it in the style of direct response copy email marketing, which is usually at a third grade reading level lower.
Rhonda:
I've read those books. I hate it when I hear about a book and then I go on Amazon and order the book and it's yeah, it's like a kindergarten or the fonts are really big to write and it's like 150 pages. I'm like, what is this? What is this? Yeah.
Meg:
Yes. Yeah. And a lot I would put a metaphor to use is think about the Broadway musical Cats and how it made $1.3 billion on its 18 year run on Broadway. They switched the medium to movies and it had an I looked at this morning an estimated loss of $71 million. It was one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, 2019 Taylor Swift.
Rhonda:
Yep. I remember it.
Meg:
And I think we as writers need to respect the medium and mediums. And with the authors I serve, they become experts at marketing and they'll learn how to write direct response copy. And we can use that in our email marketing or in some types of social media posts, but leave it, leave it out of your book show. Show off your writing talent in your book by not. Yeah. So that's one trend.
Rhonda:
Oh, wow. Yeah, I think that's so true. So just ignore the copywriting, write the book, respect the book, respect the medium and don't try to write your book as though it's marketing copy, because it isn't. It isn't. Even if it's non-fiction, even if it's a marketing book, right?
Meg:
Exactly. So similarly, there is another trend that is, since people's attention spans, we believe are getting shorter and shorter, that nonfiction books need to be shorter and full of links. I had a client that worked with me to write it then went to a company, Shining Icon Publishing to publish it. And they told him that the book we created was too long. that it needed to be 20,000 to 30,000 words at max.
Rhonda:
What? That is not even a real book!
Meg:
Exactly, exactly. So I say ignore that trend as well. And that as long as your writing is again aligned with you and aligned with the book, and the flow is the utmost readable, retainable, relatable, highly marketable, and you're clear on who you're writing to, your ideal reader, and you're honoring your voice. I would say you can let your nonfiction book, even if it's just the lead magnet for your business, let it grow to 50,000 words. And if it's good, people will stick around for it.
Rhonda:
And but 20 to 30, I'm seeing more and more of that. And it's like a pamphlet. Yeah, it's like the very thin little paperback books. And I find myself looking for the size of the book now, even when I'm thinking about buying a book if I'm on Amazon, because I've just been fooled a few too many times, trying to buy a book to solve a problem or understand something else about marketing or whatever. I want the full story. I want something that walks me through a story, a process, even if I'm just looking for a solution for something.
So yeah, absolutely. Wow. I didn't realize that was a trend. But now that you say both of these, it makes me realize why I've been so freaking annoyed and feel like I've been tricked, right? When I've bought books like this. Yeah. OK, great. So what's the third one?
Meg:
Yes. So the third trend is that, according to Dr. James Doty. He shares that the average American is looking at their smartphone 92 days out of the year. And so because of this trend, digital content must be the platform of the future for written content. And I am going to say, let's not let that lessen the amount of time that we're dedicating to writing our books.
And I have some interesting stats that I found this morning, sorry, yesterday, and then I added to it this morning. Wanted to make sure your readers knew, your listeners knew I was prepared. Just kidding. Okay. So in 2022, 53% of Americans read literature or books of some kind. And according to publishers weekly, 53% of us adults read literature of some kind. And then that was a drop from 57% in 2017. In 2023, paperback books made up 38.8% of book sales, while audio books, which I also help authors with, my team takes care of all that for Audible, 38.8% of book sales while audio books made 11.9% of book sales.
So here's where things get interesting. Globally though, globally, zooming out, It was interesting. The research I did, it was shared that the most readers are in the UK or America. So I'm gonna hold that thought, I'll come back to that. Okay, so audio books, though, worldwide only make up 4.73% of sales in book publishing. And according to World, in 2023, according to worldrated.com, they project that by 2030, the projections show that audio books will account for over 20% for just 21.3% of global book publishing revenue.
So even in six, five, five and a half years, audio books are not going to be overshadowing paperback. They don't project. And so my thought is, I'm curious about where worldwide audio did like listening as compared to reading is less.
I'm curious, in the next 10 years, other parts of the world will be reading more. If we're with those I was seeing the question this morning, if other countries and continents, are they reading less? I don't think it's because of a lack of desire. I wonder more about accessibility or if they're their leaders have limitations on the types of materials they can read. I'm all this to say. But books, paperback books, hardback books, books that are not on our smartphones or digital content, they're not going anywhere.
And I'm not even worried. I'm one of those authors that isn't worried about AI because I know there are millions of people like me who writing for them is like seconds on cake. And so it's the pleasure of the process there. We writers, we poets, we're not going anywhere. So there's always going to be. books.
And I, the last thing I'll say is I know when TV was first invented in America, there's a famous line that said the theater is dying and because of the TV, but theater hasn't gone and live theater is still here. And so I think we can use the same view at the same with our digital content on our phones versus actual paperback books. Paperback books aren't going anywhere. So that's the trend.
I hear businesses that want to write a book, they say, well, is that trend of writing books? Is it faded? Is it behind us? Right. Our books done. Our books done. And I, they're, they are not done. So those, those are the trends I would say to ignore and just write. Just write what you're called to write.
Rhonda:
And I think, so you work with, coaches and business owners who want to write a book to share their expertise to position themselves and to use the book as, I'm gonna guess a marketing tool, is that right?
Meg:
Mostly, yep.
Rhonda:
All right, and how do you think that's different from, you know, the author that just wakes up thinking, you know what, I think I'm gonna write a nonfiction book about, I don't know, I'm in accounting, so I'm gonna write a book about like, how to manage your finances. How's it different if what you really want is, to build a brand and write a book for business purposes?
Meg:
Oh, I think the biggest difference would be if sitting in the question with the author, if they, if he or she or they could wave a magic wand and five years from now, they would have the life they desire around their book and their writing talent, what would that life hold? And so that getting clear on that question and that desire with the author would determine the marketing strategy.
And however, the scaffolding, as I call it, the scaffolding of the book would not be different. No, the marketing strategy would be different. Definitely.
Rhonda:
And I think that's a great question because it applies to anyone who's writing. That's a question for writers, period. Like what kind of writing life, what kind of life in relation to your writing do you wanna have period and then, you know, what can you do to set that up for yourself? Yeah, I absolutely love that.
Meg:
Yeah, good. It reminds me of one author I serve, it's short, I promise. When I do an exploration call with potential partners or clients that'll work with me. I asked them the specific life differences it would make if their book is, I'll grab one from my shelf, if their book is complete and on the bedside table of someone and it's highlighted and dog-eared and there's my, there might even be some tear stains on page 37 because their book really helped someone.
And one client shared that the difference it would make in her life was that her husband of 35 years had died. He had crossed over. And she wanted to collapse time in her grief. And she knew writing their love story would help her in her grief journey. So, that was her difference – her ROI for the book – ,it had nothing to do with others that I serve that want more speaking opportunities. They want to make their online course into a book format.
And so it's getting clear. And that's also, we'll go back to the first question to wonderfully bookend this time together. How books are spiritual is that every author I've served, I've had the honor of 50, 54, 54 clients, all of them and myself included, when we choose to bravely birth a book, we birth a life breakthrough and just it simultaneously happens. It's so exciting to see. So I think that's the other spiritual element of it.
Rhonda:
I think that's so true. And I think especially for the first book, there's just nothing like the first book and finishing it and getting it out into the world and having it connect with readers. You know, you have to become the writer who's capable of that. And it's just it really is an incredible kind of learning journey and development and growth journey for you as an individual. So I love that.
Well, Meg, thanks. It's been great talking to you. Thanks so much for sharing all of this. And I'm so glad you were here with me today.
Meg:
Yes, thank you. It's been a pleasure. And I will send you for your listeners, the video and printable action sheet, five questions to know, which book wants to be released first. Great. And also the link for the woman on Instagram who does the book. Yes. We need those. I'll put that in the show notes too. Love it. Definitely. And if, if someone is self-published or has permission from the tradition, from their company, she'll put your cover on it. And these are great.
Rhonda:
No way?? You can have your own book cover.
Meg:
Yep. And she does wine glasses, jewelry for your wine glass, keychains.
Rhonda:
Oh, I love it. Yeah. Thanks so much, Meg. We'll talk to you soon.
Meg:
Thank you, Rhonda. Bye.
Outro:
Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Resilient Writer's Radio Show. While you're here, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a rating and review of the show. You can do that in whatever app you're using to listen to the show right now, and it just takes a few minutes.
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